Sunday 17 February 2013

On Bonnie and Clyde, On Honour and Honourable Conduct



I am off to Rembau and Paroi tonight. Rembau is the seat of the UMNO Youth Head. Although he has asked his fellow members to fight like Churchill, I expect nothing untoward to happen. That would reflect badly on the Ketua Pemuda UMNO. We are coming just to offer our thoughts on Malaysian politics. Of course we are going to encourage as many people possible to overthrow Najib democratically. That is the honourable thing to do.
Speaking of Najib, let us speak about honour and of honourable conduct. Deepak Jaikishan who was once a close family friend to the Najibs has made accusations against the family. In effect he has accused the PM of taking money. Taking money is bribery and corruption. Deepak is saying the Malaysian PM is corrupt. He is saying the PM and the missus are stealing money.
The world now knows, unless the PM ignores the advice of UMNO’s spiritual adviser Tun Mahathir and defends his honour, the public will be inclined to believe that Deepak speaks the truth. Najib may say that Deepak is an untrustworthy fellow, but if this fellow can come out with documents and other forms of evidence, Najib is crucified. The majority of UMNO members are now inclined to believe that the two are a liability to UMNO. But who cares? UMNO’s demise does not mean the end of the Malays, the Malay Monarchy nor the end of Islam.
PM Najib makes a big deal about his commitment to defend the honour and good name of the country. But his many pompous declarations regarding these appear hollow in the face of his inability to defend his own honour. Najib has chosen to take the cowardly stance and has chosen to remain silent believing like a small kid; this problem will just fade away.
They won’t because the accusations are serious. Deepak has accused Najib, the missus and siblings of receiving money from him. Deepak has acted a fence and broker in so many deals. Deepak may indeed be a character of dubious constitution, but if he has documents and other proofs, the accusations he levelled at the PM and wife will not go away. If we remember our history, the only couple who stole was Bonnie and Clyde.
How can a person who Najib now described as one who cannot be believed become a close friend to his family? A person’s character is revealed by the company he keeps. If he keeps people like Deepak and Razak Baginda around him, that reveals a lot about Najib. That would also mean one variant of honour which involves conducting oneself properly when NOT seen by the public, holds truer for Najib.
All this while, Najib pretends to be many things he is not. But then, the company Najib keeps up with does not surprise us when we become aware that UMNO is full of such characters and Najib feels at home in their company. Conditioned as such, he would not be able to evaluate Depak until it’s too late.
So you start comparing the character, integrity and honour of today’s politicians with politicians of the old school. By the way, that rare breed of politicians is almost extinct in UMNO- the only person reflecting the values of honour in his personal conduct is perhaps Tengku Razaleigh. Alas, he is in the wrong party.
You also start comparing the integrity and honour of today’s civil serpents to yesterday’s civil servants. We can’t find people like the late Zain Azrai or such luminary like Tan Sri Sheikh Abdullah who used to be the beacon of integrity and uprightness at NST.
Najib is doing the exact opposite of what his father was doing proving yet again, as Tun Razak himself opined; Najib is not fit to be a crusader of a cause. Tun Razak wanted to give fishing rods to Malays so that hey cultivate themselves with the skills to fish. Najib wants the Malays to be beggars depending on hand-outs from him of course.
Tun Razak was with some friends on one occasion and one of them remarked to Tun, wouldn’t it be nice to have a swimming pool in Sri Taman (the official residence of the PM then). Tun Razak lowered his glasses and intoned in his typical serious demeanour- do you know how many houses for the poor could be built with the money building the swimming pool? A single storey link house used to cost around RM14, 000 in those days. A Bungalow maybe RM60, 000.
Today’s politicians are a pale comparison to politicians of the old school. In previous times (I am an only referring to our politics from the time of Tunku Abdul Rahman to Hussein Onn), honour plays an important part in shaping public life.         
Let us instruct the PM and UMNO people what honour means. In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, the words and actions shown by Cassius in his exchanges with Brutus, clearly define what the concept of honour is and what actions you must take to be honourable. Brutus and Cassius were of course the chief conspirators in the murder of Caesar. But they reasoned out why the killing of Caesar was honourable. As the conspirators say, they killed Caesar to better their country -- certainly, this, in these words, becomes an honourable task. Moreover, through his words to Brutus, Cassius more clearly defines what his definition of honour is, and it is this definition that drives his actions and thoughts throughout the play.
Just as Cassius plants into the mind or Brutus that it would not be honourable for Caesar to become king, it will not be honourable for us to allow UMNO to become king.  Why? Because the "general good" must be protected, for this is the honourable thing for anyone in government to do. To Cassius it is honourable for any public official to work toward the general good.
The many accusations that Deepak has levelled and are undefended shows us that Najib and UMNO are no greater than we ourselves. Najib has shown himself to be selfish person. The placards displaying the words we love PM are at odds with the fact that in Malaysia, UMNO is more important that its president. We are not some tin pot democracies in the 3rd world, where the supreme leader is elevated to god like stature. By doing that, just as Caesar did during his time, Najib and UMNO bring dishonour to their religion and dishonour to the Malaysian people.
Najib is far from owning demi-god stature as the accusations by Deepak reveal that Najib is unscrupulous. We keep our honour by ridding the nation of such characters like Najib and UMNO. Then, the only honourable thing to do, as a member of the public  is to work for the public good, and no one's own personal interests.
What then is the right thing to do? The correct thing to do is to place public welfare above everything else. 
What is honourable? (1) The overthrow of Najib and UMNO is honourable because it is in the best interest of public good. (2) Changing the government, in the right situation as now, becomes honourable.

23 comments:

  1. Part of being a great politician is about fighting your own demons. All great politicians will personally attest to this. But too often the battle is lost and the Devil wins. DSAI has fought his demons and managed to come out from the other side. Najib obviously hasn't even fought a single battle but is shielded by the BN inner sanctum all his precious life. He is nothing more than a pinball in the political arcade. His job is to make a lot of noise.
    Its time to close down the BN amusement arcade. Time to get down to real business of governing for the sake of all.

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  2. Have a safe trip Dato. Don't bother with monsterball...I will handle him.

    Hehehe.

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  3. Salam Dato,

    Sorry if my writing is not really about current politics, but at least we can see the problems of certain industries since Che Det time.

    It's hard to picture or imagine the visual happenings in the golden era of Malacca Sultanate. How the Istana's look like. How is the landscape of kampong, culture at that time.

    Why so hard to imagine? Because we only get reference from old written text that are still under debate. Whereas in Middle East, or European Countries, we can see the old buildings of the past centuries. Yet we have no evidence of even the paintings that shows people at that that time in Malaya. Western films can design house and clothings as 99% accurate as possible because they have old renaissance paintings that looks real.

    Our local Malay film industries in the 50s have design and visualize the Malacca era. In the early 70s, during actor Latif Borgiba time, it looks quite different in terms of house design settings, but the male are already long hair look. Did Hang Tuah or Hang Jebat have very long hair just like the Rockers of the 80s? But I like the message the example of Hang Jebat films in the early 60s that shows the bad looks of the elites in the high ranking society.

    The film now? Rempit? Corporate life? So sad.

    Why, the film should educate the society the meaning of life. Not a rubbish story, with very bad script, bad editing, bad voice and no emotion at all.

    Nowadays, small kid laugh with emotion at Labu Labi film, Pendekar Buang Lapok film, even played several times at TV, but not even a single smile at current comedy film. Chinese in the 50s and 60s really love P Ramlee style film.

    Why this thing happens? Because the culture of Listen! Listen! The players in the film industries are locked by UMNO BN. We are too afraid to convey message of the facts and history in the film unlike 50s and 60s era film. We always "mengampu" anything that suits the UMNO BN.

    We spoonfed the youth with the glories of the Mat Rempits, Juvana and disco night life club, lari dari rumah in the films, that have zero value for the society. No wonder our film industry never get good appreciation from the neighbouring region what more to say in Asia.

    We hope, with the PR leadership, the film and TV drama industries should depict real Malaysian life. If not all, most malay drama even no chinese or indian, chinese drama, no malays or indians or other races.

    Good example : P.Ramlee film always show mixed race.
    1. Sergant Hassan
    2. Ali Baba Bujang Lapok
    3. Mat Sentul Spy Bond
    4. Anak Bapak
    5. dll

    Just my thoughts.

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  4. my friend, to change for betterment is okay but to change for the fucking Annuar Ibrahim, over my dead body,

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  5. Dato,since you will be in Rembau,it will be a good time to test the waters.To see how much support KJ or Umno still has in Rembau.A good crowd showing up will convinced many that the people are considering a regime change.It should be as Negri Sembilan is the most vulnerable BN state to fall this coming GE.

    Nowadays it is very common for Umno to send their goons to create havoc in PR's ceramahs.It is not easy to anticipate what cornered animals will do.But it will be better to take precautions as they might send out the Umno youth's biker gangsters known as the Mat rempits.

    Deepak has been acting like a mistress scorned,spilling out bedroom roams he had with the first couple.But there is nothing Najib and Umno can do for now,as Deepak went public when spilling the beans.But Deepak better make arrangments for relocating to Chennai,him and his family if case Umno/BN retains federal power.Or else he mighe end up as BBQ ingredients.

    Nowadays nobody cares what an Umno/BN can do for them.They know that they cannot depend on the corrupted Umno/BN.The people have been looking after themselves for a long time.With criminals roaming the streets for prey,even Umnoputras are not safe.That is the reason they have more bodyguards than babies changing diapers.

    But one thing that I do know.Mahathir will make try to see that the phantoms that help KJ win the last time will dissapear into thin air.



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  6. When I was in lower secondary, our HM used to drum into us that :

    If we lose our money, we lose nothing
    If we lose our health, we lose something,
    If we lose our honour, we lose everything.

    That was in the early sixties.
    I can bet that that with all the shit and mud smeared on his face, Najib has nothing except his money.

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  7. Now this Warthamoothy is getting to be a real pain in the ass for PR.I always said that this snake is already in Najib's pockets.Nobody who is on the run from Umno can waltzed his way across the causeway as his grandfather owned it.

    As I said before he and Ah Jib Gor's men has already made a pact in UK.That is to help Najib get the Indians back on Umno/BN's side.Or else Umno will send him to the vet to be neutered,if he ever dare to come home.This guy change colours as often as a sex crazed man going for whores.

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  8. Bruno-22:43--
    Najib's transformation agenda includes transforming useless layabout 'rempits' into violent thugs. This is Najib's strategy towards building a nation with rich ethical, religious and cultural values!

    Take all precautions but keep reading the popular blog sites without fear of a piece of stone landing on our head.

    Read this from Keadilan via Harakah.

    The full version from Harakah (18Feb2013):
    http://bm.harakahdaily.net/index.php/berita-utama/16793-bekas-jeneral-mahu-jelajah-negara-bongkar-umno-zalim
    "BEKAS JENERAL MAHU JELAJAH NEGARA BONGKAR UMNO ZALIM"

    - KUALA LUMPUR: Ke
    empat-empat bekas pegawai tertinggi tentera akan menjelajah seluruh negara untuk membongkar kemungkaran pentadbiran Umno BN, kata Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.


    Mereka ialah Lt. Jeneral (B) Datuk Abdul Ghafir Abdul Hamid (Darat), Brig. Jeneral (B) Datuk Abdul Hadi Al-Khatab (Udara), Laksamana Pertama (B) Haji Imran Abd Hamid (Laut) dan Brig. Jeneral (B) Datuk Najmi Ahmad (Kagat).

    “Terima kasih kerana mereka mahu menjelajah seluruh negara untuk pertahankan Pakatan Rakyat. Jelajah ini untuk bongkar kekejaman dan kezaliman Umno BN.
    “Umno mesti kata saya bayar mereka. Saya ingin jelaskan, tiada bayaran. Sepatah pun tidak ada perbincangan mengenai bayaran.

    “Malah Datuk Ghafir sendiri mengatakan beliau tidak mahu apa-apa jawatan atau kerusi,” katanya di sini, malam kelmarin.

    Anwar juga tidak menolak kemungkinan fitnah akan disebar terhadap keempat-empat jeneral itu kerana menyatakan sokongan terbuka kepada Pakatan Rakyat......

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  9. Just cant wait the said judgement day to come....

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  10. "over my dead body,"

    Kali ini mungkin banyak 'dead body' orang suruhan bertaburan di seluruh Malaysia.

    Yang menyuruh mungkin akan ke London Kelas Pertama ke kondo-kondo mewahnya di sana. Ada disebut-sebut sesetengah orang kaya UMNO pemilik castle di UK.

    Yang disuruh akan balik ke pondok kecil dengan motorsikal berkarat sini-sana tanpa road-tax. Ini realiti politik wang. Ada wang bising, tak ada wang pun bising.

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  11. Anonymous Anonymous 17 February 2013 21:35,

    YOU COULDN'T HAVE SAID IT ANY BETTER, AND I WHOLEHEARTEDLY AGREE WITH YOU..

    THE SOONER YOU AND THE LIKES OF YOU ARE DEAD, THE BETTER FOR ALL OF US & THE BRIGHTER IS OUR FUTURE!

    OH YES, UNTIL YOU HAVE GONE THROUGH & SURVIVED WHAT ANWAR & HIS FAMILY HAS GONE THROUGH, YOU ARE WAY MUCH LESSER A MAN THAN HIM.

    AMEEN.

    ~ Loud Despair

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  12. joehancl/PRAY, it works18 February 2013 at 13:43

    The slightest hint of corruption as in Teoh Beng Hock, he is arrested and found dead. Deepak says corruption, corruption, corruption he is still free. Why? Heaven knows, you know and I know.

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  13. It has been said a successful society requires three things - able leaders bridged to a vigilant electorate by a personal sense of honour.

    It is honour that activates conscience. It is conscience that decides conduct. It is conduct that makes or breaks destiny.

    Therefore if leaders are not honorable men and women, the destiny of the electorate and their state is immediately imperiled.

    Today as we await GE13, our cup is only half full. Our electorate have awakened but the federal leaders remain dishonorable and venal caesars.

    Our electorate has awakened to the last man and woman. Even Umno general members are disgusted.

    Yes, the electorate has become prickly vigilant of all the crimes committed despite sly attempts at deflection and deception leveled on them.

    No, the federal leaders remain dishonorable. They cannot mount a single credible reason why they should not be booted out. They have no winnable candidates. All are tainted by improprieties chargeable either in the civil or criminal court.

    Yet the toothless system they say must not be changed chaperones them around in style protected by men in dark glasses, pays them handsome salaries and overflowing perks, accords them privileges of high office, awards them titles, and enables them to lead easy work lives for all the mess they create, the pompous exuberance they wave around with money that is not theirs to flaunt, and the lies they spread to protect their turfs of personal glory and ill-gotten wealth for their family members from connections to craven cronies.

    The rakyat know this same federal government is corrupt until the country has become steep in debt. No less than eighty billion ringgit has been siphoned out of the country every year. If it is legal money, why wasn't it reinvested in the local economy that is said to be booming? No answer.

    The same federal government will this year attempt to issue another round of bonds, estimated to be forty billion ringgit, in an attempt to reduce its bulging deficit.

    Its propaganda machinery happily says there is every confidence the amount will be taken up. By who, you ask? By the EPF and other statutory funds, they answer.

    You ask back: isn't it a crime to take rakyat money, spend it irresponsibly and then issue bonds to write off the debt using life savings from the same rakyat again? Likewise, no answer.

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  14. 2/2

    The bridge of honour that is needed for a successful society does not exist in the present state of this country.

    You cannot have a country run by a couple who think they can get away with contracted murder and financial mayhem.

    You cannot have a political party that thinks its deputy is the next best candidate just because he thinks the rakyat don't know what was in the three samsonite suitcases he took when he was MB of a state.

    You cannot have a nation still wrecked by an ex-premier who has shown his middle names are only vile and vindictiveness.

    So who has Umno to next sit in that chair? This time, the answer is no one.

    All the honorable men are in Pakatan. That's why a DAP election officer promptly resigned over a technicality.

    All the dishonorable men are in Barisan. That's why the home minister remains stupendously quiet today. And it's not just because his colleague a chief minister held back a relative wanted for an international financial scandal while a foreign senator is evicted just because he wanted to observe our election procedure.

    The same home minister must be taking courage from his cousin who remains deafeningly silent on a documented exposure of his improprieties, what more his pillow-mate's avarice.

    We cannot run a country without honorable men and women. Because in reality they are just scared. Why the fear if there has been no wrong? Their very acts and responses expose them to their navels.

    Umno is desperate to hide its crimes. Taking the remnant batch of trust from the rakyat, it just continues to do whatever it likes - that includes taking their money, hope and future.

    And all that is because it has no conscience, therefore no honour, and hence no shame. It is a criminal organization.

    Meanwhile, millions pray every day with humility and gratitude for the honour of knowing the Almighty.

    And Hindraf has publicly put itself in a position where if it cannot get from honorable Pakatan, it will run to dishonorable Barisan? Fine thinking there.

    Enough?

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  15. Anon 21:35,

    Whats wrong with Anwar Ibrahim?
    You gobbled whats being put forth by umno?
    Never used your brain?
    Or, your ass was screwed too!

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  16. Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak and Tun Hussein Onn did not retire/die from/in office being filthy rich.
    But the PMs subsequent to Tun Hussein Onn all left office super rich .
    Prior to Mamak Kutty time, corruption to the tune of million was rare but today it is business as usual for corruption in the magnitude of hundred of million or even billion of ringgit.
    If the present ruling coalition is not ousted in 13th GE from federal government, there is no hope for Malaysia as a nation.

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  17. Q: What does honour and honourable mean to you, Najib??
    A: Honour to me is when I see pictures of my face being put up on every lamppost of major roads. It is also the feeling I get when I give Rakyat Malaysia the BR1M – honour, you see, honour in giving poor people some help when they are facing difficult time. But the best honour is when I bring world famous Psy to the Penang people so they can have some fun and feel privileged too.
    Now in a parallel universe, which strangely enough also exists here in Malaysia itself, honour means something else quite different.
    To the rakyat, honour means we can democratically elect a government without fear and not through foul means. And we can stand confident, proud and unashamed of that to even allow anyone who cares to scrutinise our electoral system and not having to resort to farcical excuses like threatening to strip one’s citizenship or refusing an individual entry to the country just to deter them from doing so.
    Honour is when every rakyat gets to enjoy a fair share in the nation’s vast wealth of natural resources which currently appears to be monopolised only by the connected and the cronies. Dishonoured is what we feel when only a meagre part of the wealth comes to the rakyat in the form of BR1M or sekampit beras at election time.
    Honour is showing Malaysians can stand up and fight allegations of corruption or inappropriate behaviour when required. Honour is to own up when wrong and accept the consequences or fight to clear our name when falsely accused. We do not want to behave nor want other Malaysians (more so politicians and public figures) to behave like ball-less creeps refusing to defend the name when allegations after allegations are raised. Admit wrong or sue the accuser penniless.
    Honour is when we don’t pussyfoot around with armed terrorist who invade our sovereignty. We take honour and pride when our nation takes strong measures to deal with them and not just give absurd lies to cover up 1BULLSHIT.
    We honour the name of our founding fathers of independence. We do not bring odium and disrepute to their name by attributing misdeeds so as we can shield behind it with our very own such misdeeds. To us honourable people, those miscreants engaging in this form of dark art should be called ‘penderhaka’.
    We honour and respect an independent judiciary that can truly stand up as the 3rd pillar of government without being used as a tool by a government hell-bent to manipulate just for self-preservation. We also honour a police force and civil service that remain staunchly independent and are truly serving the rakyat and not the government of the day.
    ALAS, it is a quality found wanting in the leaders of the last several governments we have had in the last 3 decades. Our pursuit of honour seems to be stymied by the very government we have. There is no more honour in our daily lives when corruption seems to seep into our culture.
    So it is a very heavy responsibility on every rakyat to vote to restore sanity and honour in ourselves, our system, our culture and most importantly in our country. The greatest honour will be when we can vote out BN/UMNO in GE13.

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  18. An Aussie senator was deported because he was considered a security threat.

    Two hundred heavily armed terrorists invaded Sabah,and they are still here because they are considered by Hishamuddin as not a security threat.Go figure.

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  19. Mahathir Kutty maseh mengingatkan warga Felda khususnya dan orang-orang Melayu amnya supaya terus ' bersyukur ', sambil mereka putra putra umno terus merompak dan menyamun segalanya selagi boleh.

    Wahai melayu bangsaku, maseh buta dan pekak ke?

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  20. Dear SAK,
    Being the ghost of Atlantuya , I will not rest in peace until 2 big questions are answered:
    1. Who ordered the Immigration Department to erase the record of my entry into Malaysia ? and
    2. Who ordered Sirul and Hazilah to kill me?
    I am still around!

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  21. Dato,what is the size of the crowd that showed up in Rembau.Let us know so that we can gauge the strength of the Umno youth head KJ,and whether he will still be around after GE 13th.

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  22. Let's see what you have to say about the Johor Situation. So far you've been avoiding the fact that PKR is trying retain as much of BN culture in it's party as possible, with the facade of "Politik Baru". But now this culture is doing with it does best: sabotaging political allies for self gain. Wait, even BN doesn't do it do this degree..

    Your silence is not so elegant now Dato.

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  23. Hishamuddin has lost his balls.As a HM,he represents the GOM.Gomen's of sovereign countries do not negotiate with rebels or terrorists who invade their countries.Malaysia sure is the land of the bolehs.

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